iTuesday review: Zombie Minesweeper for iPhone and iPad

Zombie Minesweeper is a unique blend of zombie shoot-em-up and the Window’s classic, Minesweeper. In the game you control a girl trying to meet up with her boyfriend during the zombie apocalypse (which for some reason only seems to be effecting the animals). Throughout the game you’ll encounter different items to help you along the way, including a shotgun and a brain you can use to distract the zombies. The twist on the game, as should be obvious by the title, is that you are traveling across a minesweeper field.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCe9bOchQGk

The controls are simple enough. You tap where you want to go and she walks there. Your items appear on the side of the screen and you tap them first to use them. As you explore the level you’ll have to do your best to both avoid zombies and avoid mines. You have flags you can put down if you discover where a mine might be. If you put a flag down your character won’t walk there. I often found myself just avoiding these areas instead of flagging them. Many times there are plenty of zombies after you and I wouldn’t want to waste valuable seconds by flagging a mine. Admittedly, there were times I regretted this decision.

Screenshot from the App Store

I never really understood minesweeper when I was younger. I would play it sometimes, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing. The first round is a tutorial and does a great job explaining how minesweeper is played for those who are unfamiliar with it.

Overall, Zombie minesweeper was lots of fun. It’s not the type of game you’ll find yourself staying up late playing, telling yourself “just one more level” but it is a game that will keep you entertained throughout the entire experience. One thing I really like about it is that the rounds are random; The mines, paths, and items appear at random, making replaying the same levels still fun.

My only complaint about the game is that you have unlimited lives. This means each round you essentially get as many tries as you would like. Mines that you have caused to go off stay there, this means each time you die it becomes a little easier to get through the level because you know where some of the mines are. Items, however, don’t respawn so it doesn’t make it that easy. Still, I think the game would be more challenging with a limit of lives per round.

Zombie Minesweeper is available for $.99 for both the iPhone and iPad in the App Store. This is an introductory price, so if your interested I would recommend to snag it fast. For that price you get 30 levels (which did go pretty fast – but are replay-able). The game ends with “To Be Continued”. Which I’m hoping means more levels via a software update. If that’s not the case and it means a $.99 sequel to the game I would still probably purchase it. Anything over $.99 and I’m on the fence.